Unveiling Beauty Amidst the Battle: Navigating the Aesthetics of Cancer

How important is beauty and appearance to women with cancer? Critical doctors and experts agree on this. Cancer therapy not only causes women to lose their hair, eyelashes and eyebrows. The skin also becomes paler and the face puffy, making the disease visible to everyone. This situation is particularly stressful for women. In addition to fear and pain, they often also suffer from feelings of inferiority due to their illness.

Makeup tips for well-being

Simple makeup tips help cancer patients to feel more comfortable in their skin. Because well-being also promotes recovery. In cooperation with hospitals, cancer advice centres and medical institutions, the non-profit company “DKMS-Life” offers cosmetics seminars for cancer patients throughout Germany. But even without a workshop, women can use a few makeup tricks to conceal the external consequences of their illness and increase their self-esteem.

 

Complexion despite cancer

Drugs often make the skin of people with cancer dry, pale and very sensitive. Therefore, only very mild care products should be used for skin care. First, it is advisable to thoroughly clean the face with a cleansing lotion and remove dirt particles.

A moisturizing cream is suitable as a makeup base. It not only has a nourishing effect but also refreshes the face. In summer, the cream should always have a sun protection factor as high as possible, as the skin is even more sensitive to solar radiation. For an even and radiant complexion, makeup is applied with a makeup sponge or your fingers to match the natural complexion.

Women with dehydrated skin should instead use liquid makeup and avoid powder. Women who tend to get greasy skin quickly can fix the makeup with powder. Rouge is used to make the face look fresh and lively. It is applied to the cheekbones from the outside so that the contours are emphasized. Rouge can also be applied to the temples and lower jaw bones to highlight individual facial features.

makeup eyebrows

Losing hair often makes the eyes appear more prominent. Therein lies an opportunity for women with cancer. Appropriately made up and accentuated, the eyes can attract attention and thus develop their beauty.

First, applying makeup as naturally as possible to the eyebrows is essential, which often becomes thinner after a few therapy sessions. This is best done with an eyebrow pencil. Admittedly, this requires a sure instinct and a good eye. If the eyebrows are not so pronounced, they can be traced accordingly to roughly correspond to the natural course.

If the eyebrows are lost, it is easier to recreate them with brow powder. There is a basic rule: The brow should rise by about two-thirds and fall a little more finely by a third. Most brow powder products come with stencils. If they fit, they should be used.

 

Beautiful eyes and lashes

To give the eyes expression, applying makeup to the eyelids in a dark shade is best. To do this, a neutral primer powder is first used on the lid. The inner part of the eyelid is then provided with a light eye shadow and the outer part with a dark eye shadow.

For particularly radiant eyes, it is advisable to use the complementary colour of your eyes as a lighter shade of eyeshadow. Blue tones go well with brown eyes, dark pink and purple tones with green eyes, and copper or apricot tones with blue eyes. The effect is enhanced if a light shade is applied under the eyebrows.

If the lids are made up, the eyeliner is drawn over the upper and lower lash line with an eyeliner or kajal pencil. Missing eyelashes can be optically replaced by applying small dots to the edge of the eyelid. This makes the eyelashes appear thicker, and the eyes are framed. Are there enough lashes left? Mascara is used, which makes the eyelashes look robust and comprehensive.

makeup of the lips

Similar to the eyes, the mouth can also be made up to draw attention to itself. Lips often become brittle and dry due to radiation and chemotherapy . Regular moisturizing products such as glycerine are recommended and serve as a basis for lip makeup.

A contour pencil is placed in the middle of the lips, and the lip contours are drawn from the inside out. The line gently fades out with the fingers in the corner of the mouth. This gives the mouth an excellent edge and prevents the lipstick colour from running.

Then, the lips are painted with matching lipstick. Lipstick and lip liner should have a similar shade and match the eye shadow. The following applies the courage to use colour. Red lips appear healthy and bold. Seeing such a reflection is good, even if you don’t like it.

hair and jewellery

Women who have cancer feel most marked by the loss of their hair. No wig, no matter how good, no cloth, no matter how beautiful, can replace your hair. For the transition, wigs, scarves, hats, and caps are still suitable for hiding the bald scalp.

And here, too, there is much potential for experimentation: makeup and a suitable scarf can be coordinated and combined with matching earrings. The imagination knows no limits. Many women discover entirely new sides and types in themselves and deal with their appearance more openly and creatively, even after the therapy has been completed.

In 2008, the young Dutchwoman Sofie van der Stap caused an international sensation with her autobiography “Today I’m Blonde”. In it, she describes how she bought nine different wigs during her chemotherapy and thus got nine different roles. She wanted to show that despite having cancer, you can still laugh, feel beautiful and dress up.